The present invention relates to the field of steganography, and more particularly relates to the use of biometrics in connection with steganography.
The use of photograph-based identification (xe2x80x9cphoto IDxe2x80x9d) systems is pervasive. Drivers"" licenses, passports, visas, government employee cards, immigration documents, and now, more frequently, credit cards and cash transaction cards carry a photograph of the card bearer for identification purposes. Many industries require that their employees carry photo ID on the job.
Fraudulent use of photo ID systems may occur where, for example, an otherwise legitimate passport is modified such that the original photograph is swapped with that of another person, thereby enabling the other person to travel, at least temporarily, under the guise of the original passport holder.
Even in the absence of photograph swapping or alteration, it is oftentimes difficult to confirm by inspection that the individual depicted in the photograph of the identification card is indeed the bearer of the card.
One aspect of this invention provides for enhanced security and certainty in the use of photo ID documents.
More generally, this invention concerns use of biometrics in steganographic encoding of analog and digital objects.
In one illustrative embodiment, a photograph on an ID document is steganographically encoded using biometric data, e.g., to encode the card bearer""s fingerprint. This information, after decoding from the photograph, may be employed for comparison with the actual fingerprint of the bearer in very high security access points where on-the-spot fingerprint recognition systems are employed. Retinal scan data can likewise be employed.
In another embodiment, a method according to the invention includes receiving data related to a physical attribute of a person; and steganographically encoding plural-bits of information in an object using said data.
The foregoing and other aspects of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.